And a lot of them seem to like being cops.

Gestapo syndrome. Kind if like small man syndrome, only bigger.

Ah, the law. But what happens when the law says you have a right to do something you know if you do it you face serious retaliation and you elect not to endure it? Then, de jure you have rights but de facto you don’t. For example, the Texas disabled female school teacher who has been in the news who was twice dragged out of her car for no reason by the Border Patrol. She is making noise. Most won’t.

I don't know about that. I have a cousin living in SF and while I enjoyed the city, the sights and the restaurants, political-wise and otherwise the place was a complete looney bin. They are so way out there that I can actually believe that a cop would think he could get away with cuffing a public defender.

Of course!

Don't they need to pronounce the words "under arrest" before an arrest becomes a fact? And the Miranda rights somewhere in there? Oh, scratch that - what rights? Since when do slaves and servants have rights? Privileges, perhaps, especially for the privileged, but rights? No, we have none.

Zen, that was in the _second_ moment. In the previous moment, she failed to comply with the command to step aside. By speaking the command, the police arrested her. By failing to comply, she resisted.

Sorry, Zen, I was trying to say too much in too few words. The public defender held her ground and was not threatened by the arrest because she knew that she would be released, i.e., knowing the magic. Jami Tillotson was able to remain calm because she held the same social status as the police. Her concern was for her client. The police were successful in separating her from her client.

Being arrested for resisting arrest when you are not resisting arrest is just a way for them to put you in custody, which they did.

Furthermore, nice as it is for us to be outraged by this violation, the fact remains that none of us was there. Cheering from the sidelines makes us feel good, but achieves little. I cited a very strong case from the worst of times in which authority was confronted. Again, it is nice of us to doff our hats now.

Like any other harm or crime, any remedies must come after the fact. What we need is a way to prevent the damage before it occurs.

As for the police, they may be specially restrained from taking pictures, but I am not aware of that, if it is so. I do know that you lose your presumption of privacy when you leave your home. Anyone can take your picture in public. That being so, the police were just being bullies. They did not need to confront and arrest Tillotson. They could have taken their pictures and been done with it.